Of Men and Monsters
by Ziggurat Rolsovitch
Summary: Slight AU: While Zuko has a change of heart at the tea shop, Katara and Toph are on a special mission to track down a traitorous Earth Kingdom noble before it's too late.


Title: Of Monsters and Men  
>Category: Cartoons » Avatar: The Last Airbender<br>Author: Ziggurat Rolsovitch  
>Language: English<br>Rating: T  
>AN: I felt like I wanted to do a small series because... I still ship Zutara. Used to write a little back in the day when I was a shitty writer, but I've gotten better. Anything of mine written before 2014 is utter crap. Now uh... this basic idea is faintly AU. Because I need Toph to have not been captured and Azula to have not arrived yet.

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><p><em>"Perhaps you look like a man, but you're still just a child. Now hold still and die!"<em>

"NO!" The young firebender sat up, sweating profusely from the nightmare that had been recapping itself over and over in torturous reiterating successions every night, for some reason it haunted him, this nightmare of his own father scarring him, but he slowly got up and wiped at his face before getting dressed to move on with his day despite the dream which his body still trembled from. Lately he had really been rethinking who he was and what he wanted out of life, coming to the realization that who he was and what other people expected of him were two entirely different things. He was recognizing he didn't know who he was anymore; that he had lost a part of himself, a part that he desperately wanted back, but had no idea how to get.

As he slowly made his way down the stairs he was greeted cheerfully.

"Lee, good morning!" Iroh smiled and held out a fresh cup of tea in offering to him. "There is nothing like a warm cup of tea to start the day."

"You seem to be in an extraordinarily good mood today, uncle." Zuko mused while taking the offered cup and drinking it down in one go, surprising Iroh, but at the same time pleasing him to see that his nephew was enjoying tea so much.

"Of course I am! We have been presented a great opportunity." Iroh began with a large grin spread along his face. "The Earth King himself has invited us to serve tea at a special banquet."

"Is that even safe?" He suddenly asked. "What if the Earth King notices we're not innocent refuges after all? We've already put ourselves in danger by making such a fuss with this tea shop."

"Nonsense! Once the Earth King tastes this tea he will only be focused on the delicate flavor." Iroh insisted and Zuko let out a faint sigh.

"I really hope you know what you're doing…"

"What could possibly go wrong?"

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><p>Extravagant; this was the only word which could possibly be used to describe the Earth King's banquet in light of recent success. Everyone was in their finest attire, relishing the satisfactory evening and delighting in the tea. It would soon be dark and that would be when the fireworks display would be presented for all the guests to take part in viewing. It left the two spies time to try and sniff out the double agent that the king suspected would be here.<p>

"Toph wait a minute…" Katara scolded the younger girl as she wandered around, keeping Katara very busy in the process.

"No, this is too fun." Toph made her way all the way around the very long table, in attempts to lose Katara in the overly large crowd, to which she succeeded and mistakenly bumped into someone by mistake, feeling tea spill everywhere, on herself and the person she ran into. If she hadn't been so focused on Katara's footsteps, she'd have noticed the silent person in front of her. "That's just great, didn't your mother ever teach you not to stand in people's way?"

"You're the one that needs to watch it!" The someone complained and Toph merely crossed her arms stubbornly as she heard Katara approaching. And with a sigh that someone turned around. "I'll go get a towel for you… just stay right there."

A hand suddenly grabbed her arm. "Toph!" Katara reprimanded harshly. "We need to leave."

"Let go of me already!" Toph protested in rebellion as she slipped from Katara's grasp and once more disappeared into the crowd, heading off down a side hallway, where Katara had to hurry after her. This was really _the_ worst party she had even attended. Never mind the fact they were here for information, Toph was making that impossible.

She hurried down the hallway after the younger girl and then stopped at the intersection, trying to decide which way she might have gone. That was when she heard footsteps approaching behind her and she took a breath, great, no doubt she was going to get in trouble for being down here. Just as she turned, however she almost screamed upon the sight of this familiar tea server.

Those footsteps came to a sudden halt and the tea server's jaw dropped as he lost his grip on the towel that had been intended for the young girl that had run off without drying off. His good eye widened fractionally and Katara made a look as if she were about to yell before he reacted and pressed a hand over her mouth, muffling the shout for help, as he shoved her around the corner.

"Hold on just a minute! Let me explain!" He pleaded desperately and Katara stomped his foot before biting his hand. "OW! Hey!"

"You!" She accused vehemently, bright, blue eyes burning with a fire hotter than he could bend. "You're after Aang!"

"I'm not! That's what I'm trying to explain!" He nursed the injured hand, while leaning his weight on his other foot. "I've changed. I… I don't want to chase the avatar anymore… I didn't even know he was in the city… n-not at first."

"How do I know you're not trying to trick me?" She questioned, crossing her arms over her chest, still very defensive. He didn't blame her after all that he had done.

"I guess you don't…" A deep sigh left him. "Look… turn me in if you want… but all I want now is to live quietly and peacefully with my uncle."

"He's telling the truth." Toph's voice spoke up behind Katara and both glanced at her in shock and Toph rubbed at an ear while standing there as if their conversation were something as simple as talking about the weather.

"…Toph you can't be serious! These are the people that want Aang dead. That tried to kill the moon spirit!" Katara brought up and the firebender's temper flared.

"Well maybe if your people would have just given up instead of fighting a war they can't win the Fire Nation wouldn't have resorted to it!"

"Or maybe it's because the Fire Nation can't win unless they resort to dirty tricks!" She shot back and his fists clenched as he made to make another comment.

"Wow… you two have some issues." Toph stated and the both of them once again glanced at her, as if having forgotten anyone else was even there in the midst of the argument. "I'll just leave you to work them out."

"Hold on, Toph! You're not getting away so easily this time!" Katara hurried to the young girl's side so she had no chance of making a break for it, before glancing at the firebender with a glare. "You… I swear you're not going to get away with this… this… whatever it is you're doing."

She didn't stay long enough to see what his reaction would be and instead dragged Toph along with her in a hurry to get away.

"Hey! What's the big deal? He wasn't lying." Toph complained and shot her a glare.

"You have no idea what kind of a person he is." Katara's voice was more venomous than Toph had ever heard it before and she had heard the older girl angry often.

"_Was_. He said he changed and I didn't detect any kinds of lie in his voice." Although by this point Toph glanced blindly at her nails, knowing that any further conversation was pointless and would merely annoy Katara even more; which to Toph was more than enough reason to keep on the subject.

"There's no way a rat like him could ever change!"

"You sound like you have some sort of grudge against him. What'd he do? Something personal I'll assume. Wait! I know… you two were lovers right?"

"NO! Toph!" Katara cringed at that thought. "How could you say something like that?"

"I dunno, seemed pretty obvious to me." Toph let out a breath of air and blew her bangs from her eyes before crossing her arms and suddenly frowning. "Don't look know, but someone is spying on us."

"Huh?" Katara glanced over to notice the man in green behind them that abruptly ducked behind the corner.

"I told you not to look."

"We better get out of here." She made to grab Toph's arm, but just as she tugged her around another corner two Dai Li Agents stood there in front of them. Katara frowned and quickly backed up to turn another corner, but just as she did there were two more agents. "I think the jig is up…"

The two agents stepped aside and a young Fire Nation woman stepped up, jet black hair, cold golden eyes and dark red painted lips. "Tsk, trying to find information on a traitorous earth kingdom noble at his own party? It's a shame that he's already let us in."

"Who are you?" Katara questioned, clenching her fists as she took a single step forward into a defensive stance, other hand at her water skin cap.

"You don't know who I am? No, of course not; I suppose I shouldn't expect a peasant from the water tribe would know royalty when she saw it." The Fire Nation woman raised a hand and glanced at her perfectly manicured and sharp, red nails before glancing at Katara fiercely. "I'll be nice just this once and address myself. I am princess Azula."

"Princess?" Toph snorted. "The Fire lord must not like you very much if he sent his own daughter all the way out here to the earth kingdom."

Azula frowned and glared at the young girl. "Oh… I do hope you fight back." The tone was threatening and cruel. "Take them both away!"

The cruel Fire Nation princess allowed the Dai Li to do her bidding as she folded her hands behind her back to merely watch the event take place. Katara and Toph dropped into their fighting stances and backed off and battled the agents, trying their best to slowly back up and get back the way they came.

"Toph!" Katara called, slicing a stone in half as she took another step back while Toph build a wall in-between them and the Dai Li agents. "We need to get back to the party! They won't dare attack us there!"

But just as they turned another corner to make their escape they found more agents. They were blocked off it seemed and it wouldn't be long before they took down the wall Toph had erected only moments ago.

"Any more bright ideas?" Toph questioned, she made a move to attempt and knock those agents down, but before she could react her hands where locked together with stone due to the agents that appeared behind them.

"Toph!" Katara made to free her, but she was also captured within the stone. It was clear Toph was about to break her binding until both shoulders were grabbed by one of the agents as the others grabbed Katara.

"Leave them alone!"

The conflicting group abruptly looked down the hallway to see a young tea server taking up a fighting stance. The Dai Li burst into laughter upon seeing such a sight, as if it were the most amusing thing in the world.

"The tea server thinks he's going to take us on!" One of them commented, moments before a searing ball of heat singed his hat, leaving him frozen and blinking in shock at the smoldering edge of his hat, then his anger flared. "Get that kid!"

He shot several jabs at the earth benders, -in the corner Katara and Toph struggled against their bindings- at least for a bit the Dai Li desperately blocked his attempts and just as he moved to take an agent out of commission they took cover behind their hostages and he scowled at the coward's tactic. Just as he was about to take another maneuver a slab of stone came from the wall and slammed into his left shoulder, crushing him into the wall to his right and as he tried to recover from the first another slab of stone came from the right and slammed him into the left and he was batted around.

"Alright… that's enough." Their leader said, but all the Dai Li looked absolutely shocked when the tea server they expected to be broken by their crushing blows let out a growl and started to push himself up off the ground. They over looked the firebender's tenacity. The other Dai Li made to finish him but the leader held a hand up. "I've got this."

He took a bending stance and a stone came up from under the young firebender and slammed him into the ceiling, before crumbling and leaving him in a free fall onto the cold floor.

Toph winced, she didn't need to see to know that had been a painful blow, she tried while they were distracted to break her and Katara out, but the rest of the agents weren't distracted for long, taking notice of her attempts before grabbing her by the collar of the shirt and lifting her from her feet.

"Not so fast little girl."

"Who are you calling little?" Toph shot a foot out and kicked the Dai Li agent where it counted and he let out a howl of pain, Katara took her chance and slammed shoulder first into the next agent. The firebender did his best to crawl to his feet and help their best attempt, but from behind him backup arrived and another stone shot him into the ceiling again, another crushing blow as the Dai Li got the girls under control once and for all.

A few applauds came from behind and Azula appeared. "How entertaining… I never knew my dear brother was here. Zuzu, I knew you were a failure, but a traitor too?"

Zuko blinking harshly against the blurry vision and darkening corners closing in on him, just barely made out the familiar fire nation boots before the darkness filled his vision and took all consciousness along with it.

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><p>~TBC~<p>

A/N: Oh, Iroh... what could go wrong? Well... this. Let me know if anyone is out there even reading my stuff and wants me to continue this as a short series.


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